Scoring a job in Odesk may seem impossible at first, but once you learn the tricks you’d be happy to realize there’s indeed money in working from home.
Like I mentioned in my previous blog entry, I’d be sharing a lot about my Odesk experience in the coming days and how I am beginning to find comfort in doing what I do now. It’s been over a month since I started working actively on Odesk and while there are times I’d feel too lazy to continue the advantages of staying at home, working, and earning far exceeds the lost time commuting to and from work, budgeting on food and transportation allowance, enduring heavy traffic, worrying about tardiness and absences, etc.
But are all people signing up for Odesk achieve success? How does one manage to get as many clients and projects while another simply wait in vain for another more months until about ready to give up before s/he scores a project?
Believe it or not, just like any other jobs, working on Odesk comes with a lot of patience, good negotiation and communication skills, a valuable profile, and tons of hard work and discipline. Here I’d like to share what I learned so far and how it helped me get more projects on hand:
1. Create a marketable profile. Simply saying “I am a good writer and can write original content on various topics” is not the best you can do to get clients’ attention. Odesk is very much well known these days and the competition has become tougher than it was two years ago. Highlight specific skills. Saying “I am a seasoned writer with 6+ years experience in writing original content, re-writing, article spinning, and SEO copywriting” is a much better way to grab a buyer’s attention and decision to message you their interest in getting your service.
2. Start on a lower rate. Believe it or not, but when I created my profile back in April of this year with a starting rate of $3/hr, no buyer dared to hire me amidst the sea of job applications I’ve done. One by one my application were rejected until I decide to lower it to $2/hr. Sadly, none of the buyers were still interested, until I decided to go for $0.90/hr. The logic is quite simple, if you are just starting and no previous projects to show off just yet, humbly take down your rate.Your goal is to pin a project and do well with it so that your first client gives you good feedback and continue working with you. As soon as you have shown buyers that you are a reliable contractor, you’d be surprised to see how many of them will start noticing and hiring you. The more in demand you become the more reason you can raise your rate per hour.
3. Deal with clients courteously. Remember, they are the one giving you work so make sure to deal with them appropriately from the moment you write your cover letter up to the time you completed the project. Listen to their instructions and ask questions. They’ll respect you more for that.
4. Complete your projects on time. Most clients will start by giving you trial projects to see how you work and if everything goes they can increase your weekly work hours and pour in some more assignments. Commit to their deadline. However, if you feel they are giving unreasonable time limit, politely air your opinion and give suggestions. A lot of the buyers I’ve worked with and are still working with value their workers’ opinions especially if it’s going to benefit their business.
5. Keep updating your skills and profile. Just because you are already getting a lot of buyers doesn’t mean you have to stop there. As you work with many buyers you learn more and it adds up on your portfolio. See what skills many buyers are looking for. If it’s SEO then learn how to do it. Many tutorials are now available online that will help you become an expert about something. Take advantage of these materials. The more updated your skills and profiles are the more in demand you become. And that means the more income you generate.
So there, I hope that works for your, too. Goodluck 
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